Leading Inspiration: Q & A About Change Management

Q: We have so much change going on at work. Some employees seem to “go with the flow,” while others seem to resist any suggestions. What can I do to help employees deal with change?

A: “The only person entirely comfortable with change is a wet baby.”

This short quote says a great deal. Very few people quickly embrace change. This relates to not only their work history, but also their personal history. Some of us have grown up and been in a work world where change is the norm; others of us have not. Change can be seen as exciting and as a new challenge, or as threatening one’s security. Here are a few points to keep in mind.

“We must become the change we want to see.” (Gandhi) “The future is not a result of choices among alternative paths offered by the present, but a place that is created – created first in the mind and will, created next in activity. The future is not some place we are going to, but one we are creating. The paths are not to be found, but made, and the activity of making them, changes both the maker and the destination.”

(John Schaar)

Two caterpillars are conversing and a beautiful butterfly floats by. One caterpillar turns and says to the other, “You’ll never get me up on one of those butterfly things.”